Petitions Committee

Parliament’s seismograph

The Petitions Committee learns at first hand what sort of impact legislation has on citizens. Letters addressing requests or complaints to the Bundestag are passed on to the Committee, which examines and deliberates on these petitions. This makes it a seismograph that records the prevailing mood of the population. Its members are best placed to judge whether legislation is achieving its intended goals or causing new problems and therefore needs to be critically examined once again. They are also able to make recommendations as to whether the Bundestag should take action on particular matters.